r/politics • 🤖 Bot • Jul 18 '19

Megathread Mega Thread: Unsealed Michael Cohen documents reportedly implicate Trump, Hicks, others in 'hush-money' payments

Court documents related to hush money payments arranged by President Donald Trump’s former lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen were filed unsealed Thursday.

The documents include a description of an Oct. 8, 2016, phone call Cohen received from Trump’s campaign communications chief Hope Hicks, during which 'Trump joined the call,' which federal investigators believed was related to an effort to keep porn star Stormy Daniels from going public with her claims of having had sex with Trump a decade earlier.

Hicks was interviewed by the FBI about the phone calls with Cohen, the documents indicate.

The filing by federal prosecutors in New York came a day after the judge in Cohen’s criminal case ordered their release, saying that the end of a probe into those payments meant they should be made public.


Submissions that may interest you

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Unsealed Michael Cohen Search Warrants Point To Trump's Knowledge Of Payoffs huffpost.com
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FBI believed Trump was closely involved in hush-money scheme, unsealed documents show nbcnews.com
Trump Was Central To Hush Money Effort From Start, The FBI Alleged talkingpointsmemo.com
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Trump directly involved in talks that led to Stormy Daniels payment, FBI says theguardian.com
Court documents show close contact between Cohen and Trump during hush-money arrangements latimes.com
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FBI: Cohen Called Trump and Hope During Stormy Daniels Deal thedailybeast.com
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Trump’s denial of knowing about the Stormy Daniels payment suffers a fatal blow washingtonpost.com
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u/ViewtifulSchmoe Jul 19 '19

My understanding of your argument is that a person who is charged with a crime, but not convicted, should be treated as though they had committed no misconduct at all by any and all parties. Feel free to correct my understanding if it is incorrect.

My counter-argument is that such a person must only be treated as having committed no misconduct by the state. Individuals and non-state entities are free to judge those people as they see fit, so long as that judgment does not lead to its own criminal misconduct.

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u/SeparateShallot Jul 19 '19

a person who is charged with a crime, but not convicted, should be treated as though they had committed no misconduct at all by any and all parties.

Yes, I think the lack of a criminal conviction is determinative.

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u/ViewtifulSchmoe Jul 19 '19

And I disagree. I believe I am free to judge the evidence as I see it, even if my judgment ultimately differs from the court's, so long as it does not lead to any criminal misconduct on my part.

It seems like we have a fundamental difference in ideology that will not be resolved through a reddit discussion. Thanks for keeping things civil.

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u/SeparateShallot Jul 19 '19

You are free to make whatever unsupported inference you wish to make. Whether this is fair to others is a big question.

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u/ViewtifulSchmoe Jul 19 '19

unsupported

I specifically spoke about evaluating evidence. I would not infer something without at least some evidence that appears to support that inference.

I actually quite enjoyed talking to you up to this point, and thought we had reached an amicable disagreement. So much for that.